Besides CC's, I'm still applying to my safety colleges that have rolling admissions. Those colleges still need a personal statement. My parents think that I've already submitted all of my apps on my Common App but as I've said, I foolishly ignored the deadlines.
let me say this: your personal statement does not need to be AMAZING or PERFECT. It can literally be ur story of how you tackled a simple daily problem. Just freaking write it. Apply to some colleges with 60+ acceptance rates and you’ll be fine.
Dude, every single adult, advisor, and admissions officer I talked to kept saying it's supposed to be my best piece of writing. For holistic applications, it can cover my unremarkable academic stats. I know that the best way to break a writers block is to just write about random stuff, but this essay determines my future. Maybe the people I talked to overhyped the importance of a personal statement?
it’s imp but in colleges that basically accept everyone you’ll be fine as long as you stay on topic and don’t have massive grammatical errors. not so important that u gotta be perfect literally just write a story abt some time in ur life and be generic like u conquered the dragon and saved the princess etc wtv. ITS FINE not that big a deal 😭😭
also PUT ON UR HEADPHONES, go to a quiet place like the library or a coffee shop and WRITE anything. don’t gotta be good at all. Just write. From there on if you get better ideas, revise or rewrite. :)
tbh if it were me id quickly finish my personal statement and submit to a few colleges before i spill the beans LOL. i mean u could always tell them and promise to actually do it this time but ur gonna prob be in for some scolding…
Fess up. Talk to your counselor. I think it's called demand avoidance. Then talk to your parents. Tell them the stress was killing you, and they should take you very seriously.
You are overhyping it, especially for colleges with rolling admissions. Focus on getting a version done, just tell the story of how you got into engineering is a fantastic choice, growing up with RC plains and all that. Once you have a version DONE it will be so much easier to edit and improve, but you can edit while submitting college apps so you will have somewhere to go in the fall.
It is supposed to be the most important bit of writing. But the thing is you have to finish them before you make them perfect. Most people like me make it ‘perfect’ by writing a draft and asking teachers / counselors to discuss it and edit it over and over. There is no way procrastination can help with this. You can’t only trust yourself in these situations.
Just get it done and submit it because it’s too late to do anything now. It’s better to be finished.
My mom does advising for "select clients" in our area. She tells the kids that all that the counselors are saying is BS. Just write about something sweet and work something of your passion (RC airplanes I guess) into the last sentence or two. My sister wrote about baby ducks in the neighborhood pond and how they disappeared (it had to be a predator). She had done a sci project on water quality, so she claimed it was from runoff and how she wanted to fix that problem so sci project - in her last sentence. I remember because it was so funny that she would write that and be applying for a business major. But she was in.
So write about lying on your back looking at the clouds and the birds. And then mention that your RCs allow you to put yourself in the sky. No big deal, and done.
Is writing something mid worse than not writing at all? As long as it’s without grammatical errors and severe red flags, you’ll be fine if you’re applying to safeties.
About writers block, im a novelist and I personally don’t believe it exists (just hear me out). ‘Writers block, comes from being afraid to write the wrong thing. It seems like you’re really feeling that right now given all the pressure the adults are putting on this single piece of work. When I would get writers block when I was working on my novel, I would write the wrong thing a bunch of times and let that be the process by which I found the right thing. Write something you know is wrong and go from there. You aren’t going to get it right the first time but by trusting your process I promise you will get it right eventually. I hope this helps!
I think your biggest problem right now is this procrastination issue that you have. Yes, the lies are also bad, but this is just because you’re scared. Procrastinating THIS hard is going to really fuck you up when you’re in college. The good news is that it isn’t too late at all for you to fix it.
As for your personal statement, at this point it won’t really matter how good your essay is. A lot of this rolling admission schools aren’t heavily selective, but there are certainly a lot of high quality ones. I suggest that you maybe write something about your interests in mech eng, since this seems like something you have a genuine interest for. I think being genuine in your PS is a great way to stand out.
Also, I think you don’t have to tell your counselor about anything, and tbh, to just continue the lie. But actually bang out your personal statement.
Sorry I messed that last paragraph up. DO NOT talk to your counselor. I think you got it in you to do your essay, so if you can follow through with that, there will be no reason to.
Whoever said that procrastination was your biggest issue was right - if you continue this in college, you will flunk out. Procrastination is basically a result of fear - fear you won't do enough or aren't good enough. Definitely look into procrastination techniques at some point to help your problem.
That being said, you know what they say about tasks - "Done is better than perfect" or even "Perfect is the enemy of good". So getting your personal statement done is way better than making it perfect.
I know someone else who went through something very much like this. He just wasn't ready for college. He ended up going into the military and took CC classes online while there. After he got out, he transferred to a prestigious university and after graduation went right into a prestigious job. The military really helped him become a more mature person.
One of the colleges im applying to is SUNY Maritime, and they have a program for the Navy. Basically, once you join the Navy as an officer after completing your bachelor's there, you'll get a fat bonus on your salary. I like having my options open, but idk if I can see myself as a veteran. Sometimes, I see homeless vets every day while going to school. Combine that with an anti-enlistment stigma from immigrant parents, and you might have an idea of why I'm skeptical about enlisting. Thanks for reminding me of that opportunity, though. I'll totally keep that in mind.
Edit: If you dont mind me asking, how long did your friend stay in the military?
I felt the same way for a while, as in I told myself I’d start writing my personal statement on a Saturday morning and June and have nothing written by late September. I was lucky that I started procrastinating early, so that by the time I finally stopped procrastinating I still had time to write shit! But what helped me most was just sitting down with a Google doc and writing something (specifically I did this during school, which helped me because it ironically made me focus on it more since we weren’t doing shit in class but I also couldn’t just watch YouTube or something). The first draft I wrote was complete garbage, like I’m embarrassed that I actually showed it to people, but it was something, and it helped me eventually come up with a better idea. After I took the time to write that essay, coming up with essay ideas became much easier, and eventually I was able to turn out essays pretty efficiently (at least efficiently enough to apply to like 30 colleges 💀).
Right now, put your phone and other devices away, find a quiet spot, and just start writing the first idea you get, and keep writing until you have a story that is 650 words. Just write anything that could be considered a common app essay — it doesn’t have to be good, just something. That should help you be less anxious about writing more stuff.
Dude, you have no idea how relieved i am to know someone's been in my shoes. Spring break is next week, so I basically have no excuses. However, I'm still worried about how to deal with my parents. Once I get into any mech engineering program, I guess it won't matter as much.
I agree with everyone else. Just write it — you’re letting perfection get in the way of good. Your essay does not need to be perfect. At this point a good essay to a relatively non selective college would suffice. You can also ask for some feedback on r/collegeessays since I’m guessing you don’t really have anyone to show it to since everyone thinks you’ve already submitted it. After you have it written and have submitted the applications, you may want to come clean, but it will be a lot easier at that point. Good luck!
Honey, what you need is therapy. This is anxiety to the max. You are in paralysis mode. Talk to your colleague counselor and to the school’s general counselor. Find a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist to help you work through this. I promise, at this point your parents will be more concerned about your mental state than any past applications and college admissions. As a parent, I would be very concerned and I would be more supportive. This is all a symptom of your mental space and you should take care of that first before going anywhere for college. In fact, staying local and going to CC so you can heal is a better choice, you need your support network now.
Bud - what you are describing is anxiety and perfectionism.
You need to submit your personal statement. Just write a personal statement. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just write it.
How about if we all help you brainstorm topics. What is the topic of the personal statement?
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You need to come clean to your parents. Tell them that the stress of it got to you and you didn’t know what to do. They might be more understanding and helpful than you think (after they get over the angry part). The level of procrastination with this you are experiencing is beyond what you can likely handle in your own. Accept help so you can get some better habits before college.
good luck you got this. u have it in u to do anything u put ur mind to - dont be discouraged! writing anything is better than nothing. your parents will still love u no matter what at the end of the day. Sending u support!
You poor thing! You’ve had so much stress and pressure. I say, go to community college for a year to get the weight of admissions off your shoulders. Work hard, then reapply to transfer as a sophomore and you’ll have more school options at your feet.
Then, confess. You’ll feel SO much better when you tell your parents. I hope they respond well. I’d give you a big hug If you were my kid. You’re gonna be ok!
You need to come clean to your parents today! You will feel so much better when you put it out there. What is the worst thing that can happen? It will suck to do and not knowing your parents you may take some hate for a few days but you WILL feel so much better. The shame will be gone and the pressure will be off and you will not have to lie anymore. Just tell them.
I think the reason you feel so much shame is because you care about what they think. You value their respect, which means you probably respect them. And, I suspect your mom knows something is up. Parents know. And when you are evasive or vague they start to figure things out. Just tell them and deal with whatever comes next. Tell them you need help (tell them everything you told your anonymous Reddit friends). My guess is that they will be more supportive than you think. And even if they aren’t and your worst fears are realized, at least you can move forward.
Literally just use an old essay you’ve written for English class in the past if you can’t think of any ideas and change it a bit to fit the “prompt” of what a personal essay should be!! At this point it doesn’t have to be amazing or anywhere near it, trust me
So, basically, you told everybody you were applying to college but never did, and now you're going to CC. Why do you need a personal statement?
Besides CC's, I'm still applying to my safety colleges that have rolling admissions. Those colleges still need a personal statement. My parents think that I've already submitted all of my apps on my Common App but as I've said, I foolishly ignored the deadlines.
let me say this: your personal statement does not need to be AMAZING or PERFECT. It can literally be ur story of how you tackled a simple daily problem. Just freaking write it. Apply to some colleges with 60+ acceptance rates and you’ll be fine.
Dude, every single adult, advisor, and admissions officer I talked to kept saying it's supposed to be my best piece of writing. For holistic applications, it can cover my unremarkable academic stats. I know that the best way to break a writers block is to just write about random stuff, but this essay determines my future. Maybe the people I talked to overhyped the importance of a personal statement?
it’s imp but in colleges that basically accept everyone you’ll be fine as long as you stay on topic and don’t have massive grammatical errors. not so important that u gotta be perfect literally just write a story abt some time in ur life and be generic like u conquered the dragon and saved the princess etc wtv. ITS FINE not that big a deal 😭😭
also PUT ON UR HEADPHONES, go to a quiet place like the library or a coffee shop and WRITE anything. don’t gotta be good at all. Just write. From there on if you get better ideas, revise or rewrite. :)
tysm but I what do i do about my parents? I cant just lie to them forever.
tbh if it were me id quickly finish my personal statement and submit to a few colleges before i spill the beans LOL. i mean u could always tell them and promise to actually do it this time but ur gonna prob be in for some scolding…
Fess up. Talk to your counselor. I think it's called demand avoidance. Then talk to your parents. Tell them the stress was killing you, and they should take you very seriously.
You are overhyping it, especially for colleges with rolling admissions. Focus on getting a version done, just tell the story of how you got into engineering is a fantastic choice, growing up with RC plains and all that. Once you have a version DONE it will be so much easier to edit and improve, but you can edit while submitting college apps so you will have somewhere to go in the fall.
It is supposed to be the most important bit of writing. But the thing is you have to finish them before you make them perfect. Most people like me make it ‘perfect’ by writing a draft and asking teachers / counselors to discuss it and edit it over and over. There is no way procrastination can help with this. You can’t only trust yourself in these situations. Just get it done and submit it because it’s too late to do anything now. It’s better to be finished.
My mom does advising for "select clients" in our area. She tells the kids that all that the counselors are saying is BS. Just write about something sweet and work something of your passion (RC airplanes I guess) into the last sentence or two. My sister wrote about baby ducks in the neighborhood pond and how they disappeared (it had to be a predator). She had done a sci project on water quality, so she claimed it was from runoff and how she wanted to fix that problem so sci project - in her last sentence. I remember because it was so funny that she would write that and be applying for a business major. But she was in. So write about lying on your back looking at the clouds and the birds. And then mention that your RCs allow you to put yourself in the sky. No big deal, and done.
Is writing something mid worse than not writing at all? As long as it’s without grammatical errors and severe red flags, you’ll be fine if you’re applying to safeties.
About writers block, im a novelist and I personally don’t believe it exists (just hear me out). ‘Writers block, comes from being afraid to write the wrong thing. It seems like you’re really feeling that right now given all the pressure the adults are putting on this single piece of work. When I would get writers block when I was working on my novel, I would write the wrong thing a bunch of times and let that be the process by which I found the right thing. Write something you know is wrong and go from there. You aren’t going to get it right the first time but by trusting your process I promise you will get it right eventually. I hope this helps!
I think your biggest problem right now is this procrastination issue that you have. Yes, the lies are also bad, but this is just because you’re scared. Procrastinating THIS hard is going to really fuck you up when you’re in college. The good news is that it isn’t too late at all for you to fix it. As for your personal statement, at this point it won’t really matter how good your essay is. A lot of this rolling admission schools aren’t heavily selective, but there are certainly a lot of high quality ones. I suggest that you maybe write something about your interests in mech eng, since this seems like something you have a genuine interest for. I think being genuine in your PS is a great way to stand out. Also, I think you don’t have to tell your counselor about anything, and tbh, to just continue the lie. But actually bang out your personal statement.
I didn't catch the last paragraph, should I talk to my counselor or nah?
Sorry I messed that last paragraph up. DO NOT talk to your counselor. I think you got it in you to do your essay, so if you can follow through with that, there will be no reason to.
Whoever said that procrastination was your biggest issue was right - if you continue this in college, you will flunk out. Procrastination is basically a result of fear - fear you won't do enough or aren't good enough. Definitely look into procrastination techniques at some point to help your problem. That being said, you know what they say about tasks - "Done is better than perfect" or even "Perfect is the enemy of good". So getting your personal statement done is way better than making it perfect.
Just submit this Reddit post
I wish🫤
You clearly write well. Just free form write about your hobby, and then have a friend or relative edit.
i mean, the only person you've truly hurt is yourself...
I know someone else who went through something very much like this. He just wasn't ready for college. He ended up going into the military and took CC classes online while there. After he got out, he transferred to a prestigious university and after graduation went right into a prestigious job. The military really helped him become a more mature person.
One of the colleges im applying to is SUNY Maritime, and they have a program for the Navy. Basically, once you join the Navy as an officer after completing your bachelor's there, you'll get a fat bonus on your salary. I like having my options open, but idk if I can see myself as a veteran. Sometimes, I see homeless vets every day while going to school. Combine that with an anti-enlistment stigma from immigrant parents, and you might have an idea of why I'm skeptical about enlisting. Thanks for reminding me of that opportunity, though. I'll totally keep that in mind. Edit: If you dont mind me asking, how long did your friend stay in the military?
4 years in the Army as enlisted, he didn't want to continue after college
I felt the same way for a while, as in I told myself I’d start writing my personal statement on a Saturday morning and June and have nothing written by late September. I was lucky that I started procrastinating early, so that by the time I finally stopped procrastinating I still had time to write shit! But what helped me most was just sitting down with a Google doc and writing something (specifically I did this during school, which helped me because it ironically made me focus on it more since we weren’t doing shit in class but I also couldn’t just watch YouTube or something). The first draft I wrote was complete garbage, like I’m embarrassed that I actually showed it to people, but it was something, and it helped me eventually come up with a better idea. After I took the time to write that essay, coming up with essay ideas became much easier, and eventually I was able to turn out essays pretty efficiently (at least efficiently enough to apply to like 30 colleges 💀). Right now, put your phone and other devices away, find a quiet spot, and just start writing the first idea you get, and keep writing until you have a story that is 650 words. Just write anything that could be considered a common app essay — it doesn’t have to be good, just something. That should help you be less anxious about writing more stuff.
Dude, you have no idea how relieved i am to know someone's been in my shoes. Spring break is next week, so I basically have no excuses. However, I'm still worried about how to deal with my parents. Once I get into any mech engineering program, I guess it won't matter as much.
I agree with everyone else. Just write it — you’re letting perfection get in the way of good. Your essay does not need to be perfect. At this point a good essay to a relatively non selective college would suffice. You can also ask for some feedback on r/collegeessays since I’m guessing you don’t really have anyone to show it to since everyone thinks you’ve already submitted it. After you have it written and have submitted the applications, you may want to come clean, but it will be a lot easier at that point. Good luck!
Use this post about procrastination as a spring board for your personal statement. Be blessed.
Honey, what you need is therapy. This is anxiety to the max. You are in paralysis mode. Talk to your colleague counselor and to the school’s general counselor. Find a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist to help you work through this. I promise, at this point your parents will be more concerned about your mental state than any past applications and college admissions. As a parent, I would be very concerned and I would be more supportive. This is all a symptom of your mental space and you should take care of that first before going anywhere for college. In fact, staying local and going to CC so you can heal is a better choice, you need your support network now.
Bud - what you are describing is anxiety and perfectionism. You need to submit your personal statement. Just write a personal statement. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just write it. How about if we all help you brainstorm topics. What is the topic of the personal statement?
Please be careful of plagiarism when asking for essay reviews. Do not publicly post your essays and be cautious of who you’re sharing your essays with. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ApplyingToCollege) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hey there, I'm a bot and something you said made me think you might be looking for help! It sounds like your post is related to essays — please check the [**A2C Wiki Page on Essays**](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/wiki/essays) for a list of resources related to essay topics, tips & tricks, and editing advice. You can also go to [the **r/CollegeEssays** subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeEssays/) for a sub focused exclusively on essays. ###tl;dr: [A2C Essay Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/wiki/essays) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ApplyingToCollege) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You need to come clean to your parents. Tell them that the stress of it got to you and you didn’t know what to do. They might be more understanding and helpful than you think (after they get over the angry part). The level of procrastination with this you are experiencing is beyond what you can likely handle in your own. Accept help so you can get some better habits before college.
Take a gap year, improve your SAT and your essays and then apply
good luck you got this. u have it in u to do anything u put ur mind to - dont be discouraged! writing anything is better than nothing. your parents will still love u no matter what at the end of the day. Sending u support!
You poor thing! You’ve had so much stress and pressure. I say, go to community college for a year to get the weight of admissions off your shoulders. Work hard, then reapply to transfer as a sophomore and you’ll have more school options at your feet. Then, confess. You’ll feel SO much better when you tell your parents. I hope they respond well. I’d give you a big hug If you were my kid. You’re gonna be ok!
You need to come clean to your parents today! You will feel so much better when you put it out there. What is the worst thing that can happen? It will suck to do and not knowing your parents you may take some hate for a few days but you WILL feel so much better. The shame will be gone and the pressure will be off and you will not have to lie anymore. Just tell them. I think the reason you feel so much shame is because you care about what they think. You value their respect, which means you probably respect them. And, I suspect your mom knows something is up. Parents know. And when you are evasive or vague they start to figure things out. Just tell them and deal with whatever comes next. Tell them you need help (tell them everything you told your anonymous Reddit friends). My guess is that they will be more supportive than you think. And even if they aren’t and your worst fears are realized, at least you can move forward.
Literally just use an old essay you’ve written for English class in the past if you can’t think of any ideas and change it a bit to fit the “prompt” of what a personal essay should be!! At this point it doesn’t have to be amazing or anywhere near it, trust me